Monthly Archives: November 2019

Fall Fashion

Barcelona typically enjoys a lovely Mediterranean climate, with mild winters and warm summers. Online research indicates the last time the temperature in Barcelona fell below freezing was during an rare cold wave in January 1985. In fact, although Tucson, Arizona, where we usually spend our time, is geographically 600 miles closer to the equator, Barcelona supposedly enjoys nearly identical winter weather! Likely that is because the desert has little ability to store overnight the solar heat it receives during the daytime and therefore, in the shorter days, it is overall cooler. The relative humidity and variation in altitude also make a difference in the climate, I’m sure. All that said, we have prepared ourselves for wintering in Barcelona by stocking our closets with only a few long-sleeved tops, one sweater and some light-weight jackets and warm socks. However, judging by the locals who have recently made a sudden and rather unexpected change in their dress code, I wonder if we will be asking Santa for supplemental apparel.

Barcelonans, it appears, love their heavy cold-weather clothes. At the onset of autumn, when the first chilly breeze blew discarded leaves across the sidewalk and street, a silent notice went out across the city. The natives began pulling out articles of clothing from the back of their wardrobes or their under-bed storage containers. Puffy winter coats, thick neck scarves, ankle boots and knitted caps began appearing everywhere – in store windows and on nearly every passerby. Older men started wearing long wool peacoats or overcoats with scarves tucked in at the collar and flat caps or trilbys donned atop their heads. Younger men now wear leather coats, shearling coats with wool collars and sometimes puffer coats with or without scarves. Children (and sometimes tiny dogs) are dressed in huge, thick puffer coats that appeared to be more suitable for a ski trip than a ride in the stroller or walk to school. The ladies dressed themselves in all manner of winter wear from thick fur-lined ankle boots to knee-high leather heeled boots, long puffer overcoats with belts and hoods to waist-length, water-repellent, quilted versions also suitable for the slopes, but each with a long scarf tied in some intricate, but seemingly simple, casual manner around their necks.

Granted, the mornings are a bit brisk, but the daytime highs are still in the mid to low 60s (upper teens in Celsius) and the direct sunlight is quite intense so the day warms quickly. The sun’s rays create a noticeable difference for the casual pedestrian ambling through streets dappled with shade. In fact, considering that most of our travels are by foot and we live in an area with sloping streets and gentle hills, it’s not uncommon for us to get somewhat toasty on less windy days. Unlike the locals, we often wear short sleeved tops with a light jacket and 3/4 pants or light-weight hiking slacks. Occasionally, I wear yoga pants and a summer top with a windbreaker. Mom wears sandals but Allita and I usually loaf along in our sneakers. Sometimes, when it is windy, we will don scarves but they are more often a nod toward fashion than a weather-driven necessity. Even at her school, Allita is one of only two kids (the other is an American from Florida) who does NOT wear her thick puffy winter uniform coat in addition to her long-sleeved school shirt and a warm wool-blend sweater! Her teachers frequently ask her if she is sufficiently warm. They seem to have some difficulty understanding her lack of interest in additional layers.

It’s likely that when winter ultimately arrives, we will have to finally done a warmer coat and switch to our closed-toed shoes and thicker socks. Maybe I will just include a sweater in my layers? Probably, we will all add a few scarves to our collection – for fun as well as diversity because they are so plentiful here. Perhaps I might even buy a hat, but that’s highly unlikely. Instead, there is a greater chance I will gift Mom some earmuffs for the upcoming holidays as she wears her hair short leaving her ears unprotected in the chilly wind. I wonder what the locals will do? Will they at last put on some gloves? Gloves are, after all, the only winter accessory currently missing from almost every person I pass. It will be interesting to see if there is even enough of a difference between fall and winter weather to encourage a change in fall and winter fashions. Time will tell.

IKEA

IKEA front entrance

The IKEA store in Barcelona isn’t just a warehouse of cheap furniture with confusing pictographic assembly instructions and kitschy little knick-knacks. It’s a cross between Home Goods, Wayfair, World Market, H&M, Nordstrom Rack, Uncommon Goods, and Target with a K&W-style cafeteria (not quite Cliftons, but still delicious) located on the top floor. Even if you don’t actually purchase any of their goods, it’s still a fun place to walk around, get ideas and explore options.

Yes, the store offers primarily low-cost home furnishings that are mainly manufactured in China and based on Scandinavian designs. Yes, the store includes a self-serve warehouse where you will find some of the items too bulky to stock in large quantity on the showroom floor. And, yes, it is similar to other IKEAs in basic organizational design – prompting unidirectional traffic flow through seemingly well-ordered areas categorized based on their main product contents (lighting, linens, kitchenware, etc). Interestingly, I find that in order to locate the one or two items on my list that remain unascertainable, I may have to wander the entire store (often more than one time) regardless of the apparent zoning. In all likelihood, there is nothing specific I can put my finger on that makes this particular IKEA different from any other I have visited in Germany, France, United States or the United Kingdom, but, for some reason, I find I like it the best. So, it is hardly a surprise that I would plan a visit to my favorite Swedish establishment on this crisp autumn afternoon.

As usual, we arrived with a list of “necessary” items and our typical curiosity and desire, along with two large rolling bags for homeward transport of our final purchases. Each of us was sure to wear comfortable shoes for the ensuing long walk to and around the store, and we all agreed that we would end our adventure with a visit to the upstairs restaurant. I suspect we were all excited in our own way – me because I enjoy simply puttering about in this store, Mom because she may finally get the few remaining items on her wish list, and Allita because she’s missing the last hours of her school day to go shopping. The little things in life really do bring us the greatest pleasure.

In the end, after three hours of our lives invested in leisurely meandering and perusing plus an additional hour dedicated to the enjoyment of hot, local cuisine customized to our specifications and immediately served, we were satisfied, eager to return home and ready to enjoy our new acquisitions.

Güell Palace

It was lovely on Saturday – a perfect fall weather day – so we decided to take a train downtown and visit Palau Güell (Güell Palace) located in the popular El Raval neighborhood off La Rambla. This is the home of the family of Eusebi Güell who partnered with Gaudi on the Güell park project we just visited. The palace is among many examples of Art Nouveau in this neighborhood but is unique because of it’s direct association with Gaudi.

The tour started in the stables and carriage house which is located below the street-level entrance. Even here, the intricately designed ceilings with arches, multi-colored bricks and elaborate columns were obvious. Gaudi designed this space to allow for capture of rain water and created smooth drains in the floors for ease of cleaning up after the animals. The below-stairs includes sleeping quarters for the groom and stable master as well as individual stables for the family horses. Although the overall coloring is very earthen, the architectural design and construction of this area surpasses some places I have lived in my life. And this was just for the horses! From the main entrance (two huge arched doors visible in the first photos), a massive staircase with columns, arches and, of course, stained glass window at the top, takes you to the visitor and guest lobbies and the main foyer.

Visitors were taken to the first lobby and Gaudi created an interesting feature that used lattice work on the wall to allow the family to spy unseen into the lobby below and identify who was calling before they were announced. Allita and I decided this was a very useful design feature – sort of a precursor to the modern “peep hole” in the front door. The guest lobby was far nicer but smaller with stained glass windows, an intricate gold-leaf ceiling and a more personal waiting area. From the guest lobby (once it has been decided you are allowed entrance, of course!), you enter the main foyer which is also a chapel and includes the organ pipes visible on the third floor and a massive decorous ceiling designed to allow sufficient light to enter at all times of the day and during all seasons. The ceiling appears celestial when gazing up from below – the holes create a “Starry Night” pattern in the dome.

The remainder of the house is as you might expect it: large rooms packed with awesome architectural designs, stained glass, arches, mazing ceilings, columns, colorful tiles, gold leaf decoration and furnishing that you find difficult to believe someone actually utilized day-to-day. The effect of the softly stained glass in the windows of the hallway is soothing and creates a tranquility that feels surreal among the opulence in the rest of the house.

Every space was designed and decorated perfectly for its purpose and for the period. Gaudi created a small chamber off the lady’s bedroom that would allow her to attend mass without leaving the comfort of her personal space – kind of like a pajama-day Sunday – by giving the room private access to the chapel below. The music room appears to be a miniature concert hall – and likely was during performances by the Güell children – although neither Allita nor I could imagine banging away our practice in such a setting. Even the toilet in the family bathroom was beautiful but practical with colorful, handmade tiles covering every surface making them both attractive and easy to clean!

Allita and I decided to make use of the audio equipment included with our tickets, but Mom did not. We spent much of our time explaining the various rooms to her and she spent much of her time waiting for us to finish listening to the electronic tour guide before advancing along the route. Further, our necks got sore from constantly looking up to view the ceilings and designs above our heads that were so breath-taking we couldn’t afford to miss them.

Finally, we ventured up the servant’s staircase to the rooftop to see Gaudi’s chimneys – a feature common among his residential designs. The sloping rooftop was not a comfortable place for secure balance, but the views of the neighborhood and city were spectacular and we enjoyed the whimsical designs of the little-seen fireplace vents. Allita opined it would have been fantastic to reside in such accommodations, surrounded by beauty and wealth, but then I reminded her about the general lack of indoor plumbing and electricity – not to mention no wifi, no television and no cell phones – plus a single, shared bathroom and toilet. In the end, she decided it was a much better place to visit than to live.

Parc Güell by Antoni Gaudi

Parc Güell (Park Güell) is what happened when architect and artist, Antoni Gaudi, teamed up with entrepreneur, Count Eusebi Güell, in an effort to create a new and lovely, luxury subdivision in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. It is set among the sloped streets of Muntanya Pelada and is packed with luscious greenery like an English city garden. The views of the city from the park property are nearly as breath-taking and awe-inspiring as the art and architecture of within the park itself. The luxury estate neighborhood venture was a flop and now the park is a municipal garden maintained by the city of Barcelona.

Today is Toto Santos (All Saints Day) so Allita has the day off school. Since we had the entire day to do whatever we wanted, we decided to ride the bus to Gràcia and check out Gaudi’s park. It’s a spirited climb from bus stop on Traveserra de Dalt up Carrer de Larrard to the main entrance of the park. If you intend to visit the “Monumental Zone”, which is the area where all of Gaudi’s famous mosaics, the terrace and the long sea serpent bench is located, you must first acquire a ticket. We discovered today that the tickets are sold out generally two days in advance. We were invited to purchase tickets for Sunday, but we decided instead to walk around the rest of the park – the greatest bulk of the actual gardens and municipal park – for free. By the way, we were able to see almost everything in the monumental zone from the free areas but it was at a distance. Still, much of the monumental zone is currently being renovated so we didn’t feel like today was a good time to get the best view in any regard.

We walked through a park entrance at the end of Carrer d’Olot, wandered past the playground (Allita did stop and play for a lengthy period), up the slopes past Casa Museu Gaudi (the house where Gaudi lived within the park but was not designed by him), climbing the steep staircases to the Austria gardens and over L’escalinata del drac (the Dragon Stairway), further uphill to La Casa Trias, and eventually back down to the main entrance, exiting the same way we had entered. Everywhere we turned, we saw examples of Gaudi’s famous twists, turns, arches and curves. There was evidence of dragons and other reptiles, tree trunks, bird nests, Roman columns, and even viaducts and bridges in Gaudi’s construction of the park pathways. Seeing his designs in plain brick and rock, as opposed to colorful mosaic tiles, was quite a treat. For the first time, I was truly able to appreciate the appeal of the shape and creativity of his designs. Their neutrality created a subtle presentation often hidden among the garden greenery versus the almost Dr. Seus-like appearance of the gay patterns and whimsical arrangements obviously displayed in the monumental zone.

We left Parc Güell exhausted but satisfied, as did nearly every other visitor, I am certain. Today, we shopped a little, we ate a little and we climbed, hiked (a.k.a. huffed and puffed) and played a lot. Our time spent in Gaudi’s park was blissful and idyllic, even though it was slightly overcast with a brisk fall breeze in the air. The next time we return, hopefully the renovations will be complete and we will wander the mosaics and the museum to see the colorful side of Parc Güell up close and, perhaps, in the bright, warm sunshine of spring.